Opinion: Give quake victims' parents life-long visas

Zhi-Ping Lai (left) and his wife, Xiuqing Feng, lost their only daughter, Chang Lai, 27, in the CTV building. PHOTO/FILE

I get annoyed when I see how unsympathetic our government departments can be in certain situations.

It's not just the roadblocks they put in people's way but the hoops they make them jump through at times. Especially when confronted with a new situation. Our immigration laws don't allow the Immigration Department to issue life-long visitor entry visas. I suspect this policy was put in place for good reasons. But sometimes an exception to the rule warrants a change.

The request by Chinese parents of students killed in the Christchurch earthquake six years ago this week, to be allowed unrestricted entry into New Zealand has been turned down. There is no precedent so all requests so far have been declined. Yet a precedent could be set and surprise, surprise we won't sink into the sea.

I think the government has used "we can't set a precedent" as a convenient excuse for too long. Used for things that end up in the "too hard basket". In this case does the government think it'll be opening the flood gates?

In my view it won't and I do see this case as being exceptional.

The parents want to come annually, if health and finances allow, so they can undertake their cultural practice of "grave sweeping". Tending to and tidying the graves of their children.

This is an annual practice throughout most areas in China. Who else will do it if they can't get here to do the job?

Theirs is a sad enough life now without their only child so why can't the government show some understanding and compassion? Just give the direction to "make it happen" for the parents. It's not as if they are going to smuggle drugs into the country, work without a permit, or disappear into the back blocks somewhere attempting to overstay.

These are parents who continue to grieve. Who adhered to the one child law that China inflicted on its citizens for 30 years. It has since been lifted.

These parents are not trying to exploit or flout our laws. Just a variation of the law in their unique case. I think our government is letting these parents down.

They must have been apprehensive when their only child decided to travel to another country to learn English. They would have had fears for their safety but as many other students from China had studied here before New Zealand was seen as an ideal country to study in, make friends and be safe.

Most overseas students seem to study hard and come to no harm. But who would have expected an earthquake? It happened and 23 students studying at an international language school died. Their school was in the CTV building. The one building totally destroyed on the day. And as yet no one has been held responsible.

These students lost their lives through no fault of their own. We are quick enough to take their money when they express an interest in studying here, our tertiary institutions continue to market our language schools offshore, so why can't we just as quickly make the necessary law change to demonstrate we actually care about what happens to those who chose New Zealand as a desirable place to live and study. That we are not just about taking their money and to hell with anything else.

I think the parents should be able to enter our country as often as they want to. And with as little hassle as possible. Time is apparently a great healer. But not when the government remains so inflexible. "No exceptions to the rule".

It makes me wonder if these students were from any other country than China would this rule have been swept aside?

We have history in our treatment of the Chinese when they first started settling in our country. We made a hash of it then. Seems like history is bound to repeat itself.

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait lives in Rotorua. She writes, speaks and broadcasts to thwart the spread of political correctness.